[Somewhat OT] Why I don't much follow sports car racing - Even Le Mans!...

They could give them 10 liters and they will still be kicked...! Sigh, had to be Toyota.

 

And this is when the endurance racing fans say that this is real racing and look down on F1 fans.

 

Well, at least endurance racing allows some freedom to the designers, and tries to equalise the chances by the Balance of Power taking into account the various choices (atmo, turbo, petrol, diesel, hybrid, etc...) .

Unlike F1 where everything is imposed (capacity, fuel, engine configuration, aerodynamics, ECUs, tyres, etc..) including the dangerous and archaic concept of open wheels!

When I watch endurance, I see diversity.
When I watch F1, it looks more and more like a specs series.

 

Similar crap everywhere man; just done differently, like William said. Choose your poison .

 

I'd echo most of these sentiments. I do still enjoy F1 quite a bit though.

If there wasn't a balance of power in GT racing then it wouldn't be racing and teams and manufacturers would simply walk away. Generally they do a fairly good job keeping it close and competitive.

>8^)
ER

 

Sorry, I wasn't being quite so specific - "GT racing" was just a blanket term.

F1's playing field is level because that's what the rules state and it is all very controlled. These other classes of racing allow for more leeway, but in order to keep one approach from totally dominating the others they add weight or restrict air volume or control fuel capacities. It's just different schools of thought to achieve the same outcome.

>8^)
ER

 

You'd be in for far more predefined outcomes if there wasn't a balancing of power - there has to be some controls. You must understand this?

Additionally, these series attract manufacturers who want to develop and showcase technologies that matter to them. Audi and then Peugeot brought diesel racing to Le Mans because that was what mattered most to them. Toyota has less interest in developing diesel powerplants and prefer to continue racing with gasoline. There's no way you can have both in the same class of the same event without placing some limits or allowing some variations on aspects of the cars that contribute to their performance and economy.

Diesels From Audi and Peugeot at Le Mans - Why Audi and Peugeot Diesels Rule the Le Mans Raceway - Popular Mechanics

>8^)
ER

 

+1

If F1 was a spec series, or even close to it, we'd see the odd Caterham/Marussia winning every now and then. So far they're yet to score a point. This is their 4th season!!!

 

OT:

I am rather tired seeing Audi winning everything constantly since the early 2000s. A diesel simply doesn't belong in racing either.

 

Why can't they simply set a HP limit per class and let them all have at it? I seriously don't get all the fine tuning of the regulations. Want to run a diesel? Fine. Want to pack as much fuel on board as possible? Fine. Let the team decide the trade offs and wave the green flag.

 

Because at that rate everyone will be running diesels with infinity fuel tanks.

IMO set engine size limit per class, RPM free, configuration free, pump octane (98-100) petrol only.

I loathe the diesels.

 

There was a time when covered wheels were allowed in F1 and a couple of teams tried them out and guess what: They voluntarily abandoned them again.

And I'm glad they did. It is part of what makes F1 F1. Along with the open cockpits and real fuel engines (no Diesel industrial lawn mower or some electric shnickshnack).

I have been to a few endurance races and I do love the access they give to the fans (F1 could learn a lot from them in this regard).

But I don't like the series per se for the reasons others already mentioned: Predetermined winners by fuel formulas (I spoke once to a Le Mans racer and he told me flat out that the governing body was handing the win to Audi when they run Diesels for the first time and sure enough that's what happened).

And anybody who followed our very own Glick's attempt at racing on the Ring must be totally disillusioned about the fairness of endurance racing: Castrated his engine to the point where the car had no more chance of getting anywhere. I applaud him for trying but that group didn't deserve the presence of a Ferrari.

 

I agree with this.

at this point, not only are the cars more technically sophisticated in WEC prototypes, but BoP makes the racing better too (moreso in the GT classes).

now F1 is in the perilous position of being both technically and competitively outclassed. oops. although to be fair the racing in F1 has been pretty good the last 3-4 years.

 

Well, it's probably the same in F1 as well. I'm tyred of it

 

Right because F1 regs have never been changed to help out other teams. 2005 tires anyone?

I'm telling you if the next gen. F1 cars are 550 HP as speculated, they will be so slow it will be embarrassing for the sport.

 

+1

As long as F1 are faster than anything else, I really don't give a damn about endurance racing.

And the FIA's rules will continue to assure that this remains this way.

PS: That said, as Button commented: With the current tires the GP2 times get dangerously close to F1. 2 seconds difference around Barcelona is not a whole lot to be crowned king by.

 

Sorta. Pole times were still worlds apart, but race laps was the 2 second difference. This was only because the F1 teams had to save their tires, not because the cars couldn't go faster.

It does show however that F1 teams are fighting with one hand tied behind their back.